With the advent of the use of automatic machinery to wash and dry clothing, particularly clothing fabricated from cotton, nylon and polyester fabrics, a need has been created for the imparting to clothing dried using an automatic clothing drier of a "fresh air aroma" of the type imparted to clothing dried by means of exposure to fresh air and natural light.
The prior art indicates that straight chain aldehydes are useful in augmenting or enhancing the aroma of perfume compositions, colognes and perfumed articles. Thus, Arctander "Perfume and Flavor Chemicals (Aroma Chemicals)", published by the author in 1969 discloses that n-nonanal is useful in augmenting or enhancing or imparting floral aromas at monograph 2343. By the same token, Arctander indicates that n-octanal is useful in imparting citrusy and floral aromas at monograph 2397. n-undecanal is shown at monograph 3028 of Arctander to be useful in imparting "fresh air" odors and also to have a floral and refreshing odor.
By themselves, however, the straight chain alkanals do not create the full "natural" fresh air aroma so necessary to impart a "natural effect" to dried clothing.
We discovered the constituents of "air dried" aroma by putting washed cotton cloth through a standard washing cycle and then air drying same in the presence of sunlight and then analyzing the head space above the fresh air dried-natural light exposed cotton cloth for the primary constituents in the "fresh air dried" aroma. We also determined that by means of imparting, prior to exposure to air and light, to cotton cloth, nylon cloth or polyester cloth an unsaturated organic acid, e.g. linolenic acid, linoleic acid or oleic acid or a glyceride ester thereof and then exposing same to light, a similar fresh air aroma is produced. Indeed, the said "fresh air" aroma to cloth is augmented by the combination of either (a) first adding to the cloth a mixture of straight chain aldehydes and then (b) adding to the cloth a mixture of or an individual organic unsaturated acid and finally, (c) exposing the resultant cloth to ultraviolet light and air; or (i) first treating the cloth with an unsaturated acid such as linolenic acid, linoleic acid or oleic acid; then (ii) exposing the cloth to ultraviolet light and air and (iii) adding to the cloth a mixture of unsaturated aldehydes to be specified infra.
The text, "Symposium on Foods: Lipids and Their Oxidation" Schultz, Day and Sinnhuber published by the Avi Publishing Company, 1962, discloses at page 220, 221 and 222 at Table 36 the production of volatile compounds including saturated C.sub.4, C.sub.5, C.sub.6, C.sub.7, C.sub.8 and C.sub.9 aldehydes from unsaturated fatty acids by means of natural autooxidation.
The text entitled "Cottonseed and Cottonseed Products, Their Chemistry and Chemical Technology" by Alton E. Bailey published by Interscience Publishers, Inc. of New York (1948) discloses the presence of unsaturated acids such as linolenic acid in cottonseed oil.
In addition, chemical compositions which can provide air and sunlight-dried cloth, fresh and linen-like, powerful and long-lasting aroma nuances are highly desirable in the art of perfumery. Many of the natural materials and processes which can be used to provide such fragrances and contribute such desired nuances to perfumery compositions are high in cost, unobtainable at times, vary in quality from one batch to another and/or are generally subject to the usual variations of natural products and results of natural processes.
There is, accordingly, a continuing effort to find synthetic materials which will replace, enhance or augment the essential fragrance notes provided by natural essential oils or compositions thereof. Unfortunately, many of these synthetic materials either have the desired nuances only to a relatively small degree or else contribute undesirable or unwanted odor to the composition. The search for materials which can provide a more refined, powerful, long-lasting, stable air and sunlight-dried cloth, fresh, linen-like aroma has been difficult and relatively costly in the areas of both natural products and synthetic products.